Born From Chaos
by MidnitStar
Summary: For starters, this actually happened to me. If you don't believe me, I don't mind, I have others that will: Lightning, Serah, Mog, Noel, Hope, Sazh, Vanille, Fang, Snow, and many more. I am Faith Cross. There is one thing I want to tell you before I begin though, I was born from the Chaos and not everything turned out to be what I thought it was.
1. Intro

‡‡Intro‡‡

* * *

For starters, this actually happened to me. You may think, hey this is just another fictional story. But believe me, it happened and it was very scary. Especially to think that… Well, if I tell you I'd ruin the story now wouldn't I?

And I don't want that, I want you to read. I want to tell my story of how I lived out most of my life. It wasn't like most fifteen to eighteen year olds lives, I can tell you that. I never got to go to the mall, hang out with friends, or even date.

Life wasn't all that I thought it would be. If you don't believe me, I don't mind, I have others that will: Lightning, Serah, Mog, Noel, Hope, Sazh, Vanille, Fang, Snow, and many more. Okay, so Mog isn't exactly a person, he's technically a moogle, but screw logic. You may be thinking, what was this wacko thinking, staying in their world? Or why was she there in the first place.

Well, read and find out. Who am I you ask? I am Faith Cross, currently, well, I've been alive for quite a while, I don't remember, but I was fifteen when my adventure first started and eighteen when I stopped aging entirely. There is one thing I want to tell you before I begin though, _I_ was born from the Chaos and not everything turned out to be what I thought it was.


	2. Chapter One

‡‡Chapter One‡‡

* * *

I've always had nightmares ever since I was three and no one has been able to explain them. I've even go to therapy about them, but not even Dr. Davidson can explain these recurring nightmares. My mother is always keeping an eye on me, even has me share a room with my sister, Anna.

Not that I need to. So what if I scream, cry, and beg for help while I'm sleeping in the middle of the night? There's no sense in keeping everyone else up with my dumb dreams. I'm always dreaming about the same thing. I'm surrounded by darkness, red and black, I hear people crying out to me, wanting help. Their pain crushes me, makes me feel so terrible, I can't help, but scream and cry.

But then, there are these hands, these pleading people are pulling me into the deepest part of the darkness. I scream and cry for help. Only one word I keep crying, _mother_. Of course, my mom comes running right away to check on me and I say I'm fine, but in reality I'm absolutely terrified, I'm trembling, I feel numb, and those people's pain, it's still there.

I snap out of my thoughts when there's a light knock on the door. "Faith?" A soft voice asked.

"What?" I replied, popping a potato chip into my mouth.

The door slowly opens, revealing my older sister, Anna. She moves cautiously to my side. I hate when they all do that, my mother, brothers, and sister always act like I'm going to crack any moment and go insane and need to go to a, as my mom calls it, _special hospital for special people._ Apparently, she must think I'm mentally ill, because I'm not going to a freaking Mental Hospital or anything like that, ever.

"David wants to know if you'd like to go to the movies with us and Josh." Anna said softly.

"I don't want to; you all think I'm insane." I said, returning to my video game, Final Fantasy XIII.

"Oh, honey, we don't think you're insane." She said, placing a hand on my upper arm.

That did it, I absolutely despise whenever they do that! They call me honey or dear in a nice, soft voice and treat me like I'm freaking mental! It ticks me off. I smacked her hand away, a glare upon my facial features. "Go away, you're bothering me. I don't want to go out with you and Josh, because you're always so careful around me thinking I'll slip up and become an ax murderer. And David only dates you because he wants _me,_ he knows that I don't get along with any of you and wants to make you hate me even more than you already do."

Anna shook her head. "I don't hate you sweetie."

"Yes you do! All of you do! You can't wait 'till I move out so you can get rid of this crazy person in your life. I know it, you know it, everyone knows it!" I shouted, she was seriously ticking me off.

"Oh, Faith, sweetie pie, little sis, nobody hates you." She paused. "We just want to help you with your…_Problems_." She said the word like it was a curse, as if it wasn't supposed to be said.

I stood up, yanking her to her feet. I shoved her out of the room, hot, angry tears stinging in my eyes. "Just leave me alone." I whispered.

"But, Faith, I…"

"GO AWAY! Don't ever talk to me EVER again!" I screamed, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Sis…"

"I'm NOT your sister, or your sweetie pie, or honey, or even sweetie! I freaking hate when you call me that. I HATE it! I just want to be alone." I slammed the door in her face, not bothering to care about the sorry look on her face.

I wiped my tears away with the backs of my hands and plopped down in front of the controller. Sniffling, I reached for it, but my fingers barely even brushed against the plastic when I was blown back and thrown into a wall. I groaned in pain, my vision blurry.

I reached my hand out, trying to stay, not to be picked up by the darkness, but instead, I was being drawn to it. It was like my heart wanted to go, but my mind didn't. It felt like I was a moth being drawn to a flame. I closed my eyes, feeling the darkness around me.

Then, everything went black, my mind, my sight, my surroundings, and my heart.

_**Anna's POV**_

I couldn't get that image out of my head, my mind. The look on Faith's face when I spoke to her, before she slammed the door in my face. It was mixed between hatred, loneliness, and complete and utter heartbreak.

She never looked so sad, besides when she found out that we knew she was _special_ and was having these nightmares. Everyone called her insane, but I didn't want to believe it, I didn't. "Is she coming?" David asked me.

"No, she doesn't want to. She doesn't like you and thinks that Josh and I hate her." I said.

Josh sighed and looked away. "I don't, it's just weird to have a _special_ sister." He said.

There was a loud thud from upstairs, I ran upstairs to see what it was. It came from our room. "Faith, Faith? Are you okay? If I hurt you in anyway, I'm so sorry, please come out." I knocked on the door.

It opened by itself, I slipped in. A gasp escaped me, there she was. Faith was leaning against the wall, blood trickling down her face, her golden eye color faded, her back didn't even look straight, and she wasn't breathing. I looked between the controller and her. She couldn't have, could she? No. "MOM!" I screamed, dropping next to her.

She came rushing in, her dark blond hair pinned up in a hair clip, still wet. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know." I said, looking up at her with tear filled eyes.

_**Faith's POV**_

_Where was I? What was this? I want to go home! _I cried in my thoughts. I looked up, seeing a figure running towards me, seeming happy and relieved. "Faith! Faith!" She cried.

I got a better glimpse of her, she had dark hair, golden eyes, and a black and gold dress that covered her feet. She looked almost identical to me. Except, I had dyed my black hair to a dark pink, but my eyes are the same gold.

"Who're you?" I managed to ask.

She just smiled and wiped the blood away from my right eye. "I'm the goddess, Etro." She said.

That name, it made me feel all warm and giddy inside, even though I'm a tomboy and never feel that. "I'm Faith, Faith Cross." I said, reaching out to her.

She took my hand and nodded. "I know young one, I've always known who you were. You don't have to explain my dear."

For some odd reason, it didn't tick me off when she talked to me like I was her child. It felt natural, normal for her to call me that. "Rest, rest Faith." She said, caressing my cheek.

She didn't have to tell me twice, I closed my eyes and fell into familiar darkness.


	3. Chapter Two

‡‡Chapter Two‡‡

* * *

I stare blankly at the goddess, who seemed absolutely calm. "I have a task for you my dear." She said.

"A task? What task?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You see, you have been summoned to this world for a reason. And I need you to guide the six L'Cie to their fate, I know this person, not human that is bound to stop them."

"Who?" I inquired.

She smiled sadly. "You will see in due time. But I need you to go and complete this task, to make sure that I do not have to bend my will to save them. I believe you can."

I shook my head. "Not possible, I can't that fates already been chosen."

Etro laughed. "I guess you're right, but I'd like to know that I've tried to save myself. I don't want to act like I pity them so much to anger the six." She looked at me with those dark gold eyes. "But I believe you; _you_ can at least change things even to a minor."

"Why do you have so much trust in me? I mean, you do know that I'm considered crazy right?" I asked.

"You're not." She said, her body trembling with anger. "I don't care what they say. You're not crazy and you do belong with everyone else."

I sighed, how was it possible that this woman could make me feel so much better even though I just met her? "Alright, I'll do it. I'll lead the six and do what I can." I said.

Etro smiled at me, filling me with warmth. "Thank you." She said, then placed her forehead to mine. "Now, I will send you to their world, outside of the Unseen Realm."

My eyes struggled to stay open, but she brushed her hand against them closing them. "We will see each other again."

And things went dark.

I slowly opened my eyes, staring up at the sky. I was lying on the ground and my head was aching, my whole body hurting. Did Etro actually send me on my way? Carefully and slowly, I sat up, looking around. Where was I again?

Standing up, I felt my insides twist and felt sick. My head was spinning and I felt like I'd tip over any minute. "No! Let go! My sister's still on board!"

I looked over my shoulder. A small boy was struggling against a man to get free. There in the direction he was determined to go to was a train about to tip off the edge. "Don't worry kid!" I called, still dizzy. "I'll save her!"

The boy looked at me with tear filled eyes dark brown eyes and nodded. I dashed for the train. Almost there, I tripped over my feet due to dizziness, but managed to regain my balance and kept running at full speed. I climbed aboard, it creaked and groaned in protest of my weight. "Hello? Anyone there?"

A small girl peeked around the end of the row of seats. "Who're you?"

"C'mere. I promised your brother that I'd save you." I said.

She shook her head. "No, if I move, it'll fall over and we'll both die."

I thought about that, she had a point. We were both only human, we'd die instantly. "Then, how about I come to you?"

Hesitantly, she nodded. I took a small step forward, the train moved. Another, it moved; another it moved. I was a step away from her; I outstretched my arms to her. "Come here."

She leapt into my arms, but not even a second after she did, the train creaked and shuddered, tipping over. "Ah cinnamon swirls!" I shouted, the child burying her face into my shoulder.

I kicked off the seats and crashed through the glass window just as it completely tumbled to the unknown down below. I grabbed the Buster Sword from my back and jammed it into the side of the edge, we dangled there. "Sis!"

The boy made a bee-line for us, reaching for her. "Catch!" I tossed the girl up. "Now go!"

"But, what about you?"

"I'll be fine. Never mess with the crazies." I grinned.

He nodded and started off with his sister. "Goodbye miss!" The girl smiled kindly at me.

I flip over the edge, yanking out my sword as I go, landing on my feet. Where was I?! I looked down at myself, at my clothes. I wore a fishnet top, covered by a black tank top and black leather trench coat, a tight black miniskirt, black knee high combat boots, a gold pendant with Etro's crest on it, two golden bracelets, and my hands were covered by black leather gloves.

I reached up to my right ear, it was covered up and down with piercings. Cool outfit, I wish it wasn't a skirt though. Wait a minute! These aren't even my clothes! I looked around, I couldn't be. "What are you doing just standing there?"

My attention was drawn to a fourteen year old with silver hair and amazingly gorgeous blue-green eyes. A small group of other Purged victims were walking right past me. "Nothing, really." I said, staring blankly at him.

"C'mon let's get going before we get left." Vanille said, coming up from behind. "Oh, who's this?"

"I don't know." Hope said, looking me up and down.

What should I call myself? "Cross, call me Cross." I said, using my last name would be a whole lot easier. "You are?" I asked, playing dumb.

"Hope."

"Vanille."

"Cool, now let's get going. We don't want to be left." I said, turning away to start walking.

Hope and Vanille exchanged glances, but I didn't really notice. The fourteen year old fell in step beside me. "How come you don't look like you've just escaped?"

"Because, I didn't. I'm just here to help out those in need, and kick soldier butt." I said, looking over at Hope.

He looked at me, and then glanced at my pendant. I caught him looking, he quickly turned away. I had a feeling of where I was, it was a place I shouldn't be. Etro, L'Cie, the Purge, Hope, and Vanille. It all made sense. It was the pieces to create the puzzle.

I curled my hands into fists. Did that mean that I couldn't go back until I beat the game and completed Etro's quest?

Whatever it was, I needed to get back home, even though life sucked there as well. I looked up at the sky, my golden eyes full of determination. I was going to get out of here and when I did, I was never coming back.


	4. Chapter Three

‡‡Chapter Three‡‡

* * *

I sliced at thin air with my sword, hearing the air whip around it. "Are you practicing?" Vanille asked, coming up to me.

"You." Slash. "Could." Slash. "Say." Slash. "That." Slash.

Vanille watched my movements, her emerald green eyes studying me. It was kind of scaring me. I stopped in mid swing, looking over at her. "Is it weird?"

"No, it's kind of cool that you're practicing for the road ahead." She smiled.

It was as if she knew what I was doing, that I was going to follow after them no matter what they did. Hope came up to us. "So how'd it go?" Vanille inquired.

"He's gone, left for the Fal'Cie, he's going to die anyways." He said and looked up at me, his eyes showing defeat.

I placed my sword back on my back and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry, we'll just follow him." I said, he looked at me as if I _were_ insane.

"Yeah, we can follow." Vanille agreed.

"Are you insane? We'll all die, what good will that do?" He asked, looking between Vanille and me.

I turned away, heading for the vehicle that would take us to the Fal'Cie. "Cross! Are you crazy?!" Hope called after me, even though he was following.

"Darn right I am." I said, not stopping.

Hope grabbed my hand, grabbing my attention. "You can't go alone."

"Then, let's all go." Vanille suggested.

"I was planning on it in the first place." I said, then shoved Hope at the machine. "You drive. I'm not sixteen yet."

He hesitantly got on, I got on behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist, Vanille did the same with me. It was really squished on that thing, so I was really close to Hope. "Let's go!" I shouted, pointing at the Fal'Cie.

"Hey! You three, get away from there!" Gadot shouted, making his way towards us.

"GO!" Vanille and I shouted in unison.

Hope started the vehicle and we spun through the air, screaming. When we stopped, I had my face buried in Hope's back, holding tighter than before. "Get back down here!"

The teen glared and zoomed off towards the giant structure that welcomed us with open arms and I knew why. We went right through and I closed my eyes, as we jumped off, right before we could crash. "Um, Cross, you can, uh, let go now."

I opened my eyes and looked up at Hope, his face was cherry red and he was looking away from me. Immediately, I released him and stepped back. "Some ride." I grumbled and looked at the wreckage. "It's totaled."

Hope agreed with me, even though he wasn't looking at me. Yeesh, what did I do this time? All I did was hang on for dear life. "Well, come on you two, let's get going." Vanille said her hands on her hips.

"Coming!" I shouted running over to her, Hope following behind me.

While we were walking, we managed to avoid monsters, well at least some of them, others we had to fight to get items. "Hey Cross, how come you wanted to help me and risk you r life? Don't you have any family that would miss you?"

"I don't know." I looked at my feet. "My family acts like I'm going to start an insane phase any moment, that I'll just slip up and go crazy." I said.

"Why?" He asked.

"I don't know, ever since I can remember, I've had nightmares, no one knows why, and they think that it's a sign of some kind of insanity."

"Well, you were crazy enough to come here, but I don't think you'd kill someone." Hope said.

I looked over at him, why was life better here than back at home? I kind of wished it was my home, right here in this place. "Guys we have a problem!"

"What?" I asked, leaving Hope's side and going up to Vanille. "Oh cinnamon swirls, we're going to have to fight."

The two looked at me, dumbfounded by my words. "It's my little saying okay? Sorry, for being weird."

I grabbed my Buster Sword off of my back and stood in front of Vanille. "You guys go ahead, I'll take care of these Cie'th." I said, tightening my grip on the hilt.

"But Cross…" Hope started, but I shook my head.

"Go! You guys are more important than I am." I said.

Vanille handed me potions and wished me luck, running off with Hope. "Bring it on!" I shouted charging at the monsters.

I sliced one's head off, then knocked another off of its feet and stabbed it straight through the chest. Then I turned around and chopped another one down diagonally. I kicked one in the face away from me. By the time I had at least twenty-five dead, I was exhausted.

Knowing I wasn't going to win, I started to crawl away. One grabbed my ankle and started to pull me back. "LET GO!" I shouted, kicking it down the steps.

I climbed to my feet and started to run, but it grabbed my foot and I fell over. It looked ready to finish me off. I kept kicking it, but the darned thing wouldn't release, it was like a zombie. Gunshots went off and I looked at the shooter, there stood Sazh and Lightning.

Sazh helped me to my feet, I dusted myself off. "Thanks, I thought I was a goner for sure." I said.

"This place is no place for kids. Go back." Lightning said, leaving.

"No way, I'm staying. I have to." I said.

She turned to face me. "Whatever, die, it's not like I care."

I rolled my eyes and followed. The usual events happened, Serah being crystallized and all that. Of course, it seemed a lot sadder here than from a television screen. We charged up to Anima's chamber, where the Fal'Cie slept soundly. Lightning kept whacking it, but her weapon ricocheted off of the metal. "Hey, don't hit it, you'll…" I was cut short when the creature roared to life.

Hope and Vanille took off, but were cut off by a shield. "Great." I said, grabbing my sword and coming up beside Snow, Sazh, and Lightning. "Here we go."

I was going into battle, even though I still felt sick to my stomach and dizzy. And I knew what I was going to become in the end. A L'Cie, the seventh one, a puppet of the Fal'Cie.


	5. Chapter Four

‡‡Chapter Four‡‡

* * *

I groaned in pain when Anima knocked me aside. Slowly, I climbed to my feet, wiping the blood from my mouth. "We're all going to die!" Hope cried, falling to his knees.

"Not on my watch." I mumbled, charging at it again.

_Summon all of your strength, use you power Faith._ Etro told me in my head. I tightened my grasp on my sword and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. "Not a good time for a nap!" Sazh called to me.

Ignoring his comment, I pulled my sword back to my side. I could feel this weird energy building up in me, like what I feel in my dream with the darkness surrounding me. My eyes flashed open and I kicked off the ground, like a spring I flew at the Fal'Cie's extra arms. "DIE!" I shouted, my sword finally cutting through the solid metal.

My feet down even touch the ground as I turn around and come back to take out the other side. With a quick whoosh and loud crack, I sliced through that side easily as well. "Now try!" I shouted to the three, who looked absolutely dumbfounded by what I had just done. I rolled my eyes. "Hurry before they regenerate!"

They quickly want back to battle, Anima screeching. Lightning and I delivered the final blow together, out of breath. "Hey how did you even do that?" Snow asked me as things went back to they were.

I opened my mouth to tell him I really didn't know, but it was too late. The floor glowed brightly before disappearing from underneath us. It didn't seem like we were falling at all, but floating. I looked up ti see a restarted and healed Anima, surrounded by green vine-like things. _Yeah, very descriptive Faith_. I thought to myself.

They shot out, reaching for us. Each one piercing through a different part of someone's body. I kept staring until one pierced through my collarbone, I cringe in pain, biting down on my tongue. The last thing I remember was tasting blood before I was swallowed whole by darkness.

I could only see sketchy images, nothing I could make out. But I knew what the vision was. It was the vision of Ragnorok. I had the same vision as the others.

* * *

I watched as Snow tried to dig Serah out of the crystal. I pulled my knees up to my chest. "You're not going to be able to get her out."

"No one asked for your input." Snow said, plunging the metal into the crystal once again. "And how many times must I tell you to go follow Lightning and the others?"

"I don't know, as many until I finally listen. I can be stubborn and determined when I want to be. I guess this is one of those times, I just really don't feel right leaving you behind." I grinned. "Don't worry though, I think I can handle my own. No need for babysitting."

Snow stopped and looked at me, shook his head and went back to work. I sighed and looked up at the sky, jeez, how did I wind up in this place? "Freeze L'Cie!"

"Huh?" I leaned my head even farther back to see PSICOM soldiers, aiming their guns at me.

I sat up straight, scrambling to my feet. "Fire!" Their leader shouted.

"Snow!" I shouted, running away from the bullets, trying hard to dodge them.

One plunged deep into my thigh. I fell to the ground, my hands covering the wound, I screamed in pain. Snow ran past me, fighting off the soldiers. I bit down on my tongue, blood exploding onto my taste buds. I healed my wound, but it still hurt like heck.

I slowly climbed to my feet. "You're all so freaking annoying." I said, casting fire and burning them all alive.

To be truly honest, they really did tick me off. Snow looked at me and sighed a breath of relief. I smiled, but it dropped when he dropped to the ground, holding his forearm. "Snow?" I asked, jogging up to him.

"Get back!" He shouted at me.

That's when I remembered what happens here, Snow summons Shiva! I took off running, but the power of the sisters being summoned threw me into a wall of ice, head first. As I slid down the ice, lying on my back, I watched the sisters appear before their summoner, Snow.

I rolled over, onto my stomach. I pushed off the ice with my hands, climbing to my feet. Alright, here I go! "Snow! Sentinel!"

"What?! Why?!"

"Just do it!" I ordered, the blond doing what I said.

I headed for Snow, almost there. One of the sisters turned to face me, I stopped in my tracks. "Ah shoot." I said.

The sister extended her hand out at me, placing it on my head. "Cross!" Snow shouted.

An exploding pain entered my skull and I fell to the ground, my eyes wide with shock. I fell to my knees, falling onto my side. _Cross! Cross, don't you dare die!_ Etro demanded in my thoughts.

But how could I live? The Eidolon, meant to kill me, and what better way than to deliver a devastating blow to the head, a very sensitive spot. My breathing was heavy and ragged, yet rapid as I tried to cling to life. I looked up at the sky, wanting this to be the last thing I see before death.

"Cross!" Snow hollered once again, appearing by my side, out of breath.

A bunch of soldiers swarmed around us. "Well, well. I never thought you'd wind up with the twin sisters."

"What do you want?" Snow glared at the speaker that I could not see.

I could tell that she smirked, as they carried Serah off. "Wait!" Snow yelled, leaping to his feet.

The woman knocked him out, then told her men to take him away. She crouched down next to me. "What about her?" One of her men asked.

Fang looked me up and down, watching me die. Not like I cared, what could she do to save me. On the other hand, I wasn't quite ready to die. "Leave this one, she's dying, she's not going to last long." She stood up.

I reached my hand out to her, tears in my eyes, flowing back into my dark hair. I grabbed one of her fingers, enough to grab the huntresses' attention. "What?" She said, probably thinking I should be dead by now.

"Don't go Fang, I-I don't wanna die. I don't wanna be alone. I-I really wanna live." I cried, my voice hardly coming out.

I kept repeatedly saying I don't want to die, everyone watching me with curiosity. "What do we do now?"

"What else? Bring her along." Fang said, crouching down and scooping me up bridal style.

"Do you know her?"

"Not at all, never met her before." She said, then mumbled to me, "Kind of strange if ya ask me."

I closed my eyes, knowing that I had a fifty-fifty chance of dying. But I had a feeling that I wasn't, that I lived, even if I felt pathetic while doing it. 'Cause I sure as heck felt pathetic pleading to live. Maybe I'm just like that, pathetic.


	6. Chapter Five

‡‡Chapter Five‡‡

* * *

_I glanced up at the clock, sighing when I saw that I still had an hour left of this class, this school year. I couldn't wait to get out of this prison, to finally be free. When I checked again, the clock stopped ticking. "What the?" I whispered, looking at all of the frozen people around me._

_ I slid out of my desk and looked around. What was this? Why was this happening to me? I grabbed my messenger bag, walking to the front of the class and waved my hand in front of the teacher's face. He didn't even blink._

_ That's when I heard it, a soft crying, like a little girl that missed her mother. I went to the door, pulling it open and looking up and down the hall. "Hello?!" I called out, following the cries._

_ "Help me, I want my mommy, mommy." The voice cried._

_ I reached the end of the hall, but when I did my chest felt heavy, like something was weighing it down. But I still opened it, finding a room full of darkness, red and black specks floating around. _

_ "Mommy, mommy." The voice cried._

_ Right there in the middle of it all was a little girl, dark hair, golden eyes, pale skin, and a frightened expression. "Are you my mommy?" She asked, looking up at me with tear filled eyes._

_ It took me a moment to realize, it was me. When I was three, I recognize those looks anywhere. "No I'm not." I said._

_ The younger me screamed in pain. "Make them stop! Make them leave me alone! They keep crying, they're sad, they're in pain, and they keep begging me to help." She looked at me. "Make them stop; I'll go crazy if they don't."_

_ She extended her hands out to me, the darkness grabbed me, pulling me in. "No! No! Stop it!" I cried, struggling against the darkness's strength._

_ I pulled and pushed against it, trying to go back to the door. But the door was gone. I yanked my wrist from its grasp and pounded on the wall. "Help me! Please! Help me!" I cried._

_ The younger me wrapped her arms around my waist. "Come back into the Chaos Faith, it's where you belong." _

_ "No!" I dropped to my knees, as the hands of the Chaos dragged me back. "Mother! Mom! Help me please! I don't want to die! I don't want to go back!"_

_ The younger me laughed at me, wrapping her arms around herself, tears streaming down her cheeks. I kicked and screamed even louder. "Help me! Someone! Please!" I cried, sounding really pathetic._

_**Snow's POV**_

I had been watching Faith for a while, coming back and forth ti make sure she was alright. Her heartbeat and breathing was stable for the most part, she would live, but she's been doing nothing, but sleeping.

"Help me. Someone. Please" Faith mumbled, tears streaming down her cheeks.

I stood up, but the teenager girl screamed out in pain, writhing in pain in the bed. "Make it stop!" She cried repeatedly, the machines showed that she was no longer stable.

She was kicking and screaming as if someone was trying to take her away from her beloved. I didn't know what to do, but Fang and Raines came in. "What's happening?" Fang asked.

"I don't know." I said, watching as Faith screamed in pain.

_**Faith's POV**_

_I kept screaming, the Chaos was hurting me, making me go crazy. "Make it stop!" I cried._

_ "Faith, wake up." A voice told me._

_ I stopped screaming and looked up, seeing a bright light through the dark. "No! You can't go!" The younger me cried, looking sad._

_ Ignoring her, I reached out to the light, wanting them to help me. "No! Don't leave me alone! I don't want to be left alone! Faith!" She cried, trying to grab me._

_ It was too late, I was already leaving the strange and dark world._

Light flashed against my eyelids, I slowly opened them. There sat Snow, right beside me. Fang and Raines standing on the other side. "What are you all looking at?"

Snow lightly tapped me on the forehead, I flinched. "You scared the heck out of everyone." He said.

"I'm alright, just a nightmare." I smiled, sitting up, even though I could feel myself shaking. The three didn't seem to notice though. "So what did I miss?"

"Not much." Snow shrugged.

"We have a few questions." Fang said.

I blinked at the huntress, confused. "Questions?"

"Are you okay Faith? You did take a really bad hit to the head. A concussion." Snow asked.

"I'm fine, just tired I guess." I said, then looked at Fang. "What do ya want to ask?"

She asked about the others, Vanille, and where Light and Hope would be heading. "Is that it?" I asked.

"No, I have one more." Raines asked. "How do you know Fang? When we found you, you said her name."

I froze, how was I supposed to explain this? _Oh you see, I'm from another world. One that uses yours as entertainment and I know everything that happens and that will._ I mentally snorted, yeah right, as if they'd believe that garbage.

So instead I said, "You really don't want to know the answer."

"Yes, I do." He said.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you. It's actually kind of ridiculous when I explain." I peered up at him through my lashes.

When he opened his mouth, I hurried on. "We should stop talking and get to Lightning and Hope; they're probably in Palumpolum by now." I said, changing the subject to much more important matters.

Fang and Snow agreed. They all left me to change into my clothes and get my things. I was looking in the mirror when I realized the bandages wrapped around my head, blood slightly staining it. That's when I remembered Shiva delivering a devastating blow to the head. I grinned in the mirror. "I'm unstoppable eh?"

I laughed and walked out of the room, running down to the meeting place where Snow and Fang were waiting for me. _I really don't think that's what the song meant by 'I am titanium'._ I laughed in my thoughts.


	7. Chapter Six

‡‡Chapter Six‡‡

* * *

Snow told me to slow down, but I didn't I was too busy enjoying the amazing view of the airships. I bumped into a wall like structure and fell onto my butt. "S-Sorry." I said, looking up at the man or woman I crashed into.

It was Cid Raines. Fang came up from behind and yanked me to my feet. "Watch where you're going kid."

"Yes ma'am." I said, saluting her and following. "Sorry about that." I said to Raines once again.

Raines ignored me and kept walking along his path. I rolled my eyes, thinking that he was really stuck up. But then I remembered that he was a Sanctum L'Cie and if he doesn't like me, I must be Dysley's favorite topic, and not in a good way.

On the airship, I leaned forward in my seat, looking at Fang beside of me. "What do ya want?" The huntress asked.

"Nothing, just thinking, that's all." I said, looking away. "I can't wait to go home." I said, even though deep down I felt that it was a lie.

"Hmph, we're a long ways away from going home kid."

"I know." I said, but whispered to myself, "It already feels like I'm home."

"What was that?" Snow asked on the other side of me.

"Don't be so nosy, yeesh, ." I said, plopping back in my seat.

"Mr. Optimistic? What kind of name is that?" Snow asked.

I grinned. "The only nickname I'll give ya, that actually makes me smile and laugh when I say it, 'cause it's true."

"She has a point." Fang agreed.

Snow seemed to think about it. "You think I'm optimistic?"

"Uh, yeah!" I laughed, pulling my knees up to my chest, dark pink bangs flopping into my eyes. "I'm surprised that you haven't realized that. Even when we're down in the dumps, kicked so far below, you find a way to make people believe in hope again. That's why I call you Mr. Optimistic."

Snow laughed, embarrassed and scratched the back of his head. I smiled and looked at the floor.

"L'Cie! Freeze!" A PSICOM soldier ordered me.

I gave him the finger in reply. That earned me a few gunshots, but they all missed. Fang sliced one down, coming back to back with me. "Ya sure know how annoy adults, don't ya kid?"

"It's what I do!" I called back, stabbing one that dared to charge at me.

A soldier shot me into my upper left arm. I spun around to face them, glaring. "So you wanna play it rough?" I asked, sauntering toward the woman that was scrambling back. "I can do that. Let's play!" I laughed, plunging my sword into her chest, a smile on my face.

The woman died instantly. "Let's get going." Snow said, him and Shiva hopping on Shiva.

I looked away from my kill and nodded. "Alright!" I shouted, leaping down after them. "Aero!"

A cool blast of air exploded from my palms, keeping me from falling to my death. My head started to pound, I grabbed it, groaning in pain. Without the air keeping me from falling to my death, I fell. When the pain went away I screamed, absolutely terrified, I'd thought I'd wet myself. "Bad day!"

When I should went splat on the ground, I fell into something softer, Hope's arms. "Cross?" He asked, looking up at the sky and at me. "How?"

I laughed. "I don't think this is what they mean by did it hurt when you fell from heaven." _Nope, this landing was so much sweeter._ I thought, but immediately removed those thoughts from my head.

Hope let me down and we all went into battle, when we separated, it was strange, not like the game. Hope and I ran one way, Snow another, and Light and Fang the other way. That was so not planned if you ask me. "Hey Cross, what happened to you?"

"Oh you mean this?" I asked, pointing at my head. The younger teen nodded. "Well, I was helping Snow fight when his Eidolon, Shiva, I got hit. One of the sisters, decided to deliver a devastating and life threatening blow of ice to my head. Fang helped us out though, even though they were planning on leaving me behind."

Hope stopped walking, a look of shock on his face. "Why?"

I stopped as well, staring at him. My expression dead serious. "I was dying, I was going to die. Shiva meant to kill me, what better way than to destroy the head or brain? An important part of the body." I said. "Fang knew that I was dying and was too weak to carry on. She wanted to leave me to die instead of suffering through life. Of course, I acted like an idiot and kept crying that I wanted to live. Even though, dying may have been a better choice."

The teen walked up to me and thumped me in my forehead, I stumbled back, grabbing the spot he hit. "Don't speak like that. You don't deserve to die." He got a mournful gleam in his eyes. "Death isn't better than anything."

I smiled. "How is it that you're making me feel better when I'm not the one that lost my parent?"

Hope shrugged. I slid my arm around his shoulders and we walked off to keep from being spotted by the soldiers. "By the way Hope, don't blame Mr. Optimis… I mean Snow, he tried saving your mother, he really did. Snow even regrets letting her go, but she let go and told him to take you home."

He looked at the ground, I saw tears fall. I stopped. "D-don't cry! Please! I'm sorry!" I said.

I was no good at these things, but then it came to me. When I'd cry, my mom would hug me; tell me I was going to be alright. I did just that, I wrapped Hope in a hug, startling him. "Jeez, don't cry, I'm no good at this stuff."

Hope seemed to lift his arms up to hug me back, but dropped them back to his side. So, I dropped my hands down, grabbing his hands, and wrapping them around me. "That's how a hug goes." I said, then thought about it. "At least, that's how it was with my mom."

The teen didn't drop his arms when I released his hands, but tightened them around me. I wrapped my own arms around him. My heart was pounding, but why? "I miss her so much, I want her back." Hope cried into my shirt.

"I know you do." I said, sounding like a mother. "Don't worry you can let it out, you'll be alright. I won't mark you as weak or a baby, because believe me, this is how I get to sleep at night, I cry."

"Really?" Hope asked, not believing me.

"I'm only human, with nothing but a mark and powers from it. I still hurt, cry, laugh, smile, and feel. Just like the others."

With that Hope stepped back, wiping his tears. He smiled at me. "I don't need that time to cry. I think I may be tougher than you Cross."

"Maybe. I already know that you're going to grow up and become really tough, not a kid that's had the stuffing beat out of him by the world." I said, ruffling his hair.

"Freeze! L'Cie scum!"

Hope and I looked at the soldiers surrounding us and laughed, holding our guts. The soldiers looked at us like we were insane. I then grabbed my weapon. "Hey don't you know better than to mess with a crazy chick? Especially a crazy L'Cie chick?"

Hope grabbed his own weapon and stood beside me. "Ready Cross?"

"Yeah! Let's show these punks what we kids are made of!" I shouted and we took off into battle.


	8. EXTRA

‡‡EXTRA-FAITH AND HOPE‡‡

* * *

"Hello Born from Chaos readers!" Faith shouts into the microphone.

"Do ya know what time it is?" Hope asked, trying to match his partner's enthusiasm.

Faith jumped on the desk, throwing her arms in the air. "It's time for extras with Faith Cross and Hope Estheim!"

"Jeez Faith." Hope sighed, hiding his face in his hands. "Sit down."

The elder teen pouted. "But Hope, I'm too excited, I want to have fun. Things are going to get tense."

"How do you know?"

"Because, I'm the narrator, I tell the story, even though it has already happened." Faith said, falling back in her chair.

The silvered haired teen stood this time. "R-really, what happens at the end of the journey?"

Faith hid her hand under the desk, blushing furiously. "I can't tell, the readers will know the end then." She jumped up. "And if they do there's no real point in reading anymore! And I want them to read; even MidnitStar wants them to read! Afer all, why would she let me tell her my story if she didn't want people to read it?!" She threw her hands in the air.

Hope sighed and looked at her hand, his eyes widening. "Faith Marie Cross, who the heck did you get engag…"

Faith smacked a hand over his mouth. "And now for the Extra!" She smiled, then glared at the person behind the camera. "Lightning! Keep it rolling."

The pinkette rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, whatever." She muttered.

**LIGHTNING AND FAITH HAVE A COOKING COMPETITION!**

Faith looked at the burnt food on the plate. "Aren't you going to eat?" Light asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"No, not this." Faith pushed her plate away.

Light's eye twitched in irritation. "You think you can do better?"

"Yes, actually I do." She stood up.

The two of them had a challenging fire in their eyes. "HOPE!" They turned their attention to the younger teen.

He looked up from the food. "What?"

"We need you to be the judge of our food!" They shouted in unison.

"EH?!" Hope looked at them with disbelief.

"Snow, Vanille! You two as well." Faith pointed them out.

"Okay!" Vanille smiled, skipping over to the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Sure, I guess so." Snow agreed.

"Sazh, Fang! Keep the camera rolling!" Light ordered.

"Okay." Sazh said.

"Sure thing boss lady." Fang said.

"Ready!" Faith shouted. "Begin!" Lightning shouted.

The two of them entered a fierce cooking battle. When they finished, they all decided on Faith's cooking. "HA! I win!" Faith smirked.

Light aimed her sword at her throat. "What about in battle?"

"Oh come on Light, it was just a friendly competition." Hope said, stepping in between the two females.

"How about this for friendly?" Faith laughed, grabbing the flour and throwing it on the floor having it explode on everyone.

"Hey guys, I'm back. So Faith, I was thinking about your story." MidnitStar entered the room, grocery bags in hand.

She froze, blinking in confusion, then her dark brown eyes filled with anger. "What did you do to my kitchen all of you?!"

Light and Faith exchanged glances and laughed, everyone else joining in with them. MidnitStar grabbed the broom and started swinging it around. "I'll kill ya all!"

**THE END**

"And sadly that's all we have time for!" Faith said, smiling.

"But don't worry! We'll have more weird extras later on for ya!"

"Especially when things tense up later on! We'll always be there to give you a little laugh, unless you're a sourpuss and don't have a weird or good sense of humor." Faith pouted.

Hope smiled. "And if it's not funny, just go ahead and skip ahead past the extra, unless of course our lover story writer, MidnitStar has not been able to update more of Faith's story."

"But they shouldn't skip it! I loved seeing Lightning lose to me in cooking!" Faith exclaimed.

Lightning walked around the camera, cracking her knuckles. "Die Faith!" She shouted.

"Shoot! Hope, you take over!" Faith shouted, running off screen, Light following her.

"Any who, we hope that you will continue to read and support this story." Hope smiled. "Please review if you'd like."

MidnitStar stomps by, behind the host. "Lightning and Faith what are you doing!"

"Like I said, please continue reading to find out more about Faith and her journey, I'm kind of interested myself."

"Estheim! Get off that camera and help me!" MidnitStar barked orders.

"Remember to review! See ya!" He said, running to the scene. "Faith! Don't!"

"Ha! Take that!"

"What have you done?! There's a flipping hole in the wall!" MidnitStar exclaims.

"Ow, ow, ow! I'm sorry!" Faith cried.

Vanille and Fang stepped in front of the camera, waving. "Ciao!" Before they turned off the camera.


	9. Chapter Seven

‡‡Chapter Seven‡‡

* * *

"Alright, now if I remember right, your place is this way. Right?" I asked pointing to the left.

Hope peered around the corner. "Yeah, but there's people, citizens in the way." He said, nodding to the small crowd of people.

"I know, I'm trying to figure out how to get around them without getting caught." I said, my eyes searching the area.

Hope looked around as well. "Wait, what's that?" He pointed at the small figure behind a crate.

I shot a quick look at the people, then ran across, hiding behind the crate. Then slowly, crept behind the back of them. There was a little boy, seeming to try and hide from the soldiers. "Hey?" He jumped, looking at my face. "What are you doing?"

His eyes moved down my neck, then they landed on my mark. The boy's eyes widened in fear and he kicked me away. "Monster! Help me!" He cried, everyone turning around.

I fell back onto my butt, grunting in pain. "Cross!" Hope called, running to my aid.

He helped me to my feet, but it was too late, the adults were closing in on us, weapons in hand. We backed up, but they stepped forward. I stepped in front of Hope when we came back to back with the wall. "C-Cross?"

"Don't worry." I grinned over my shoulder at him. "If anything bad happens, you won't be hurt as bad as I will."

Hope seemed to have a worried look in his eyes, but nodded. "Mommy!" The little boy cried, running to a young woman.

"Monsters." The woman glared at us.

"Monsters? What the heck do you mean? We're all the same as you. Just with weird powers and a flipping mark! We're human, we have feelings, we have humanity, and we're not ruthless killing machines that you all make us out to be!" I shouted, my golden eyes sparking with anger.

"Cross." Hope said.

I stepped forward, the people stepping back. "If you all want a monster, I'll give you one. But ya know what, you're not worth my time."

Soldiers stepped through the crowd, guns aimed at Hope and me. "Cross!" Hope yelled at the same time they fired.

The silver haired teen jumped at me, tackling me down to the ground. We stayed like that, covering our heads until the shots stopped. There was smoke in the air, making it hard for anybody to even see if we were dead or not.

Hope climbed to his knees helping me sit up. "Are they dead?"

"They should be, all of those bullets."

"Good riddance, the world is better without those monsters."

I could've sworn I heard someone mumble, "Ya have to admire that girl's spirit though."

I grabbed Hope and yanked him into the alley. When the smoke cleared, the soldiers looked around. "They got away?"

"No way, they should be dead."

Hope grabbed my hand, making me jump. "Come on, before they really start looking." Hope said.

I nodded, following after him. "Too bad, we'll have to take the long way around." I sighed. "I'm so sorry Hope, I had to be an idiot and try to talk to that kid."

"Don't worry about it. I don't think you're an idiot." He blushed. "I, uh, actually think that you're one of the coolest girls I know."

"Aw Hope!" I cried, hugging him. "You're so sweet. I think I may cry." I said, wiping away fake tears. "Here come the waterworks."

The funny thing was, after I said that, real tears actually came. No one ever thought of me as cool, they always ran away and called me a freak or insane. "Um, Cross? Are you really crying?" Hope asked, raising an eyebrow.

I shook my head and walked ahead. "No, I just got something stuck in my eyes trying to be funny."

Hope laughed. "Nice try Cross, I can see it plain as day!" He smiled.

"Go ahead, laugh. Deep down I'm a big baby that has always wished for compliment." I said.

"There's more where that came from Cross, when you're with me, I'll give you boat loads."

I playfully shoved him. "Stop it, you're gonna make me blush."

"Now that would be a sight." He grinned.

I stared at him, shook my head and continued walking. What was wrong with me? "Hey Cross, you said that you've always wished to have someone complement you, does that mean that not even your parents did so?"

"Got that right. I never knew my dad, mom said that he was nothing but scum. My mom, she smiles at me, but I can see that she really doesn't care."

"They're not even proud of you?" Hope asked in disbelief.

"No, I've never seen my mother clap and smile at me. Or even say that she was proud. Once, when I was five, I made everyone breakfast, she grabbed hers, and went to work. Another time, when I was eight, I played on a soccer team and my team went undefeated thanks to me, she never went to a single game. When I was eleven, I made her a birthday cake and a dinner for her birthday, without any _real_ experience. On my fourteenth birthday, instead of celebrating and getting gifts, I went to an animal shelter and volunteered; my mother just shook her head, and said that she didn't see what I saw in any of those animals.

"And just a few months ago when I turned fifteen, I finally kept to myself. Stayed in my room, said screw family, they all hate me. I didn't feel loved." I said, Hope looking at me with sympathetic blue-green eyes. "Hey, don't feel sorry for me. I don't need sympathy, every time someone tries to, it ticks me off."

Hope immediately stopped looking at me with that look. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to…" I placed a hand on his head, feeling its softness. I just wanted to keep my hand there and keep feeling his hair.

_Sweet Etro! What is happening to me?! Jeez, I feel like a flipping perv!_ I said, looking away, my cheeks crimson red.

"Cross!" Hope shouted.

I looked up and saw our enemy, the one that brings the gang in Palumpolum back together. "Ready?" I looked over at him.

"Yep, let's go." He said, grabbing his weapon.

"We can do this." I said, charging ahead.

Hope was following my lead. That's when things seemed to slow down, time itself seemed to go in slow motion. I realized what was happening. The freaking thing was going for Hope! I turned around, darting for Hope, who seemed frozen as well. "Hope!" I shouted, shoving him out of the way.

The teen watched in shock as the machine struck me down. I flew into a wall, the bricks crashing on me. "Cross!" Hope cried, when time went back to its original flow.

I felt like I was dying all over again. Who was going to save me this time? Fang? Snow? Lightning? Maybe Hope? Or even Etro? I coughed, blood trickling down the side of my mouth. My vision went blurry, like a black curtain covering everything. "Looks like ya need help!"

"Go help her."

Rapid footsteps headed in my direction. Right over me stood my savior. "Cross." He said, crouching down and brushing my bangs out of my eyes.

And I saw my savior perfectly. Hope, Hope Estheim.


	10. Chapter Eight

‡‡Chapter Eight‡‡

* * *

Hope picked me up bridal style, and then stepped out of the rubble. I closed my eyes, a small smile on my face. "What was she thinking?" Light asked, so I assumed that the battle was already over.

"I really don't know." Hope said.

"Glad she's okay." Snow said.

"Kid was lucky that we showed up on time." Fang piped up.

I moved slightly, Hope tightening his grip on me. I flinched in pain, a bruise? I didn't stay awake long enough to find out.

When I awoke, I found myself in Hope's room. At first, I wasn't bothered by it, but then it really sunk in; I was in Hope's room! I face palmed myself and rolled over in the bed. Then I flew up in pain, grabbing my side. Quickly, I yanked off my shirt and saw a giant black bruise on my right side of my rib cage.

I flipped the covers off and walked to the bathroom, grabbing my tank top, leaving the fishnet top on the bed. I searched through the cabinets and grabbing the roll of bandages. I turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on the bruise, one eye closed, wincing in pain.

Yeesh, maybe I really was an idiot. I'm always getting myself beat up and almost dying. After my whole side as soaked and dripping water on the floor, I grabbed the bandages, walking back into the room to sit down. Slowly and carefully, I wrapped it around and around my ribs, at least which could help a bit. I pulled on my fishnet top and tank top, looking around for my coat. I found it on a chair by the door. Taking a deep breath, I looked for some kind of book bag, when the door opened. "Hey Cross, what're you doing?"

I looked up at Hope. "Got any book bag I can use?"

"Uh, sure." He said, walking over to me and pulling one out from under some of his stuff. "Here."

"Thanks." I said, grabbing the bag, our hands touching.

Luckily, I didn't freak out like a moron. I grabbed the bandages off the bed, and went to the bathroom to get other medical items. I placed my potions in there. "What are you doing?"

"I'm packing things, you know for the road ahead." I grabbed my coat.

Hope followed after me to the kitchen. "Any food we can take?"

"Sure, I guess." He crouched down in front of a cabinet and pulled out some cans and bags. "This okay?"

"Yep. Thank Hope." I smiled, taking some of those things. "Sorry about raiding your house though."

"It's fine." Hope said, slightly blushing.

There was a jaw rattling boom and I fell forward, Hope catching me in his arms. "What was that?"

"The army," I said, standing straight, my cheeks red, and grabbed the bag. "Let's go."

Hope nodded and we ran off to the sight of the explosion. Right there was a gaping hole in the wall. "What the heck?!" Fang exclaimed.

"Everyone! Back away!" Just as they obeyed, the army opened fire.

Fang and Lightning were on one side of the wall, Hope, Snow, and I on the other. "Hey, what's happening?" Snow whispered to me.

"The army found us, and decided to pa y a little visit." I looked at the blond and said, "Snow, go take Hope's dad and hide out. Keep him safe like the hero you're supposed to be."

Hesitantly, the man left the scene. We ambushed the very few soldiers that were dumb enough to venture through the hole. "Stay here, until I give off the signal."

The three nodded. "Be careful Cross."

I smiled at Hope and took off for the side of the gaping hole and whistled at how big it was. After a moment, I tossed out a golden bracelet from my wrist, it shining in the searchlights. Immediately, they opened fire, the gold shattering to a thousand tiny shards. I slid the bag off of my back and I stepped out of the building, my hands behind my head, right next to my sword hilt, reminding me that I was armed. "So you've decided to surrender and die young L'Cie?"

I put my hands on my hips, my head down. My shoulder shook uncontrollably, a soft laugh coming out. "What's so funny?"

I tossed my head back and laughed, sounding crazed. My arms wrapped around myself as if I couldn't contain myself. Amused tears picking the sides of my eyes. "Sorry, but…" I stopped laughing and glared, my dark golden eyes shining in the bright lights. "There's no way in Pulse that I'd surrender, that's nothing, but a ridiculous joke to me."

"What?!"

"I don't see why you want to see us dead so badly! We haven't harmed anyone innocent, or killed an innocent person, nor made any threats! We're not threats!" I shouted.

"Quit spouting the same nonsense you did with those citizens!"

Then, they opened fire, their warship appearing to gun us down. I called out to the others. "Light! Fang! Attack the main part of the ship!" I looked at Hope. "Hope! Supply us with life!" And I turned back to the ship. "And I'll take out its sides."

I used Aero and lifted myself into the air. "Hello!" I smiled, grabbing my blade and swinging with all of my might. "And goodbye!" I shouted when it exploded.

Just as I backed up, the other side's guns aimed at me. "Shoot!" I shouted, just as it literally shoots me out of the sky.

I landed directly on Fang, knocking her to the ground. I could've sworn that I saw a menacing aura about her. "Get off me before I kick your arse as well!"

Immediately, I jumped to my feet and helped the huntress up. "Hey Fang I have an idea. Light, I need you!"

"Okay, so Fang, toss me up and Light, when I come back down, use everything you have to send me back up there. Hope! You're coming with me!"

The silver haired teen nodded, dashing over to us. I grabbed his hands and nodded to Fang. She tossed me and Hope up high into the air. "Light!" I called.

The soldier clenched her fist, my foot landed on it and she knocked us up to the ship at top speed. "Here we go!" And I sliced right through the ship's weapons.

I then shoved Hope over to the remaining part of the warship. "You get the last hit!" I shout.

He nodded and attacked, the explosion knocking him back. "Hope!"

I used Aero to push me to make myself fall faster, reaching out to him. "Hope!" I called again, he reached out to me. Our fingertips barely brushed against each other. I reached out again, this time grabbing his hand and pulling him close.

I landed on my feet, right next to Light, Hope in my arms, being held like my princess. "Good job Cross." Fang said.

"I know what I'm doing. Now let's get going."

"Um, Cross?"

I looked down. "Oh! Sorry Hope." I quickly set him down on his feet.

That's when I realized something, both of our faces were beat red.


	11. Chapter Nine

‡‡Chapter Nine‡‡

* * *

_**Anna's POV**_

I stared at Faith's body, watching as she looked deathly pale. What was happening? I remember my mom saying something about the Separation of Realms. Or at least that's what she said some lady told her when she was dreaming, before Faith was found on our doorstep, only four years old, with a terrified and lonely expression.

We swore that we'd find her real home, which was supposed to in another realm. I grew attached to her, along with everyone else. We kept her, but when she started having nightmares, we knew what it was. It was from her life in that realm, we thought, well, that we needed to be careful and not give her any clues of painful memories.

But now she thinks she's an insane outcast that everyone hated her. I grabbed her hand. "Oh Faith, if only you knew the truth."

Will and Josh looked at me. "Do we have to tell her?" Josh asked.

Will nodded. "Once she returns, we'll tell Faith the truth."

"Not unless she finds out the truth before she comes back." I said.

The two of them looked down; they knew that I could be right, that Faith may find out before she comes 'home' to us.

_**Faith's POV**_

After I told Fang and the others where we needed to go, they seemed all in on it. And when I mentioned that is where we'll find Vanille and Sazh. Fang was all over it, she really was ready to see Vanille. It made me smile. "What's up Cross?" Hope asked.

"Nothing, just happy to see everyone's enthusiasm." I said, which Hope nodded, understanding.

Once on the ship, we were almost immediately ambushed. "I've got these guys!" I shouted, grinning. "You guys go on ahead, I'll meet you there."

They nodded, leaving. Well, all except Hope. "What are you doing here? I said go." My grin had dropped.

"I'm sticking with you Cross, I like being around you." He smiled.

I blushed and looked at our enemies. "Alright Hope, let's get going. The faster they have their butts handed to them, the faster we catch up with the others."

"Cool." Hope said. "Are you ready?"

"I was born ready!" I shouted, charging at the enemies, engaging myself in battle.

It wasn't very hard to beat them, after all, they were too busy cowering once I defeated one of them. Even Hope got some hits in. Once we finished hiding their unconscious bodies behind crates so nobody noticed them, we took off deeper into the airship.

Hope wasn't very far behind me, but I was still in the lead, trying to avoid any enemies that were going to slow us down. "Hey, Cross?" Hope asked from behind.

"Yeah?"

"Light said something very interesting before we all met up in Palumpolum."

"Oh yeah?" I inquired, my heart skipping a beat.

_Holy cinnamon swirls! What did she say?! Did she find out that I'm not from this world? Or that I'm working for Etro?!_ I screamed in my thoughts, even though my face was absolutely calm. "She said that Cross isn't your actual name. Is that true?"

"Sort of." I said, breathing a sigh of relief. "My last name is Cross, my first name is Faith." I said, turning sharply around a corner.

"That's a really pretty name, I like it." Hope said, making me blush.

"Jeez kid, stop making me feel good, otherwise I'll wind up stealing you away." I laughed, even though Hope had a puzzled look on his face. "Just kidding, now hurry up, we're almost there."

_How could I be anymore creepier?!_ I cried in my thoughts. I still couldn't understand why I felt this awkward around Hope or even why I always had an urge to do something…romantic? Lord, shoot me now. Anybody hear my plea!

I couldn't believe it, I was falling for him. I like Hope! O.M.G! Okay, just breathe.

We made it to the roof, finding Light and the rest. "Cross!" Snow called, waving.

"Hey kid, what's wrong with ya?" Fang asked, looking right at me.

"Nothing, just tired I guess." I said, then looked at Lightning. "By the way, I heard that Light told you guys Cross isn't my real name. Well, it's my last name, my name's Faith Cross."

They all nodded. "I like Faith better." Lightning said before walking away.

"Um, you mind repeating that?" I asked.

"Shut up Faith and keep moving." She said.

I ran up to her, a grin on my face. "You like my name Light. Come on admit it."

"I swear I will hit you if you don't shut up. And you've seen the result." She nodded at Snow.

I laughed and fell back a bit, next to Hope. Maybe it was a bad idea. "Faith, you look like you're going to be sick. Are you sure you're okay?" The silver haired teen asked.

"I'm fine." I said.

He touched my arm. I pulled away. "I'm fine." I said firmly before running up to Light.

It was a quiet walk and we even had quiet battles. I finally looked over my shoulder at Hope, he had a hurt expression on his face. He caught me looking, I blushed.

His face, it was too cute. He had a sad and hurt expression. Don't think I'm a sadist or anything, you didn't see it, it was cute. I looked away. I had hurt his feelings. Oh lord, what have I done? I slowly backed up, falling in step beside him. "Hey." Was all that he said.

"Listen Hope, I , um, well…" I sighed. "I'm sorry if I hurt you. I didn't mean to. To be truly honest, well, I'm having a hard time with _stuff._ And I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"It's alright Faith, I think I understand."

"Y-you do?"

"Yeah it's a girl thing. So you should talk to a girl, right?"

I scratched the back of my head and looked at Lightning. "Maybe I should." I said. "But it'll have to wait until after we find Vanille and Sazh."

"Got it." He said, and then kissed me on the cheek real quick and ran off ahead.

I touched the place where he had kissed me, still in shock. Quickly, I blushed a deep red and I felt like I was in a trance. I swore I could hear Etro giggling in my head. Or maybe it was me.

I think it was, I was giggling like an ordinary girl while with her childhood crush. I really wished that something would fall on me or I'd wake up and it would be a dream, that I just was a fan girl of Hope, but nothing like that happened.

I placed my hands over my face, trying to hide the embarrassed expression.


	12. Chapter Ten

‡‡Chapter Ten‡‡

* * *

I ducked down to avoid the beast catching me in its jaws. "Whew! That was close!" I shouted.

"Don't lose your head now Faith!" Fang chuckled.

"Hey now, I'm not that pathetic!" I laughed.

I could fight, but it was harder now. Every time I looked Hope's way or he called my name, I got this warm feeling in my chest. And it always distracted me. "Faith!" Light snapped me out of my thoughts. "It's coming your way again!"

"I think you have a secret admirer." Snow added.

"No one…" I rolled on the ground, stopping beside Light's feet. "Asked you Mr. Optimistic!" I shouted over my shoulder, making the blond man smile.

I jumped to my feet. "I think this thing loves me actually."

Light shook her head. "Love as in food."

I laughed. "I don't think I taste too good. I know I'm cute and all, but I'm not edible."

The thing swooped down once more, this time I leapt in the air. My heels dug into its face. I grabbed my sword and smiled. "How about a little nap?" And like that I dug my sword deep into its head, it screeched and bucked in pain.

I flipped off, landing right beside Hope. I got back in action quickly though. I conjured up fire and got into a pitcher's stance. "Eat this!" I threw it with all of my strength, it struck true.

The monster had seen its last meal, and hit the ship with a thud, sliding off the side. "Alright!" I cheered, but an explosion cut me off.

Everyone had prepared themselves for another battle, except for me. Vanille and Sazh came right through the smoking gap in the side of the ship. "Hey guys!" I shouted, throwing my arms in the air and waving to them.

"Vanille!" Fang took off.

"Fang!" The other followed suit, meeting each other.

Fang lifted up Vanille's skirt, looking at her brand. I covered Hope's eyes with my fingers. "What was that for?" He asked, but I just giggled and shook my head.

"You've still got time." Fang sighed a breath of relief.

I uncovered Hope's eyes when Vanille's skirt was put back down. I smiled at him, but he had a questioning look in his eyes. "Well, it's great to see you guys again." I said. "I kind of missed you guys."

"'Kind of'?" Sazh laughed. "Well thanks kid, just shows how much we've been missed."

I stuck my tongue out at him and laughed, but then my eyes snapped open and I looked right behind Sazh. I grabbed my sword, glaring behind him. Light and Hope must've saw it too because they followed my lead.

"Whoa, what're you guys doing?" Sazh stuttered.

"Not you! That!" I shouted, pointing right behind him at the second beast coming in for a visit.

Sazh spun around and saw it, he grabbed his guns. The thing swooped down, just like his buddy, he went straight for me. "Why do these thing hate me?!" I shouted, ducking.

"Who knows? But we may as well, defeat it before it carries you off." Hope joked.

"Ha, ha, ha! Very funny Hope." I said.

I pulled my arm back and thrust my sword into its eye, having it screech. It kept shaking its head, until my sword popped out. I ran up behind Snow and jumped up, using his back as a stepping stone. I pushed off into the air, grabbing me blade.

By the time I looked down, I realized it was too late and I wasn't going to land on solid ground, not unless a went splat on the ground far below us. "Faith!"

Just as I fell past the ledge, hands grabbed my one free arm. I looked up, seeing Light and Hope, both of them gripping onto my arm tightly. "Don't you ever…" Hope started.

"Do that again." Light finished.

I closed my eyes and laughed. "You guys sound like my mother."

The duo pulled me up and back onto the ship. "Well, at least the thing's blind in one eye." I said. "That's a good thing at least."

Everyone looked at me, but not like I was stupid, like they were glad I was safe. "Hey Fang, Vanille! How about ya'll do your thing?"

The two looked at me strangely, and then they grinned. They were going to hitch a ride, Pulse style! When they got it rounded up, we all leapt on. The odd thing was, Light and Hope were still hanging onto me as if I were going to fall to my death if they weren't holding onto me.

But it was Lightning's grip that showed that. Hope's made me think that he thought if he let me go I might disappear.

We crashed through the side of the air borne ship that kept the Sanctum hidden. I landed on my feet, luckily Hope and Light let go, because I lost my balance and went rolling forward, stopping on my knees. I laughed and shouted, "Let's do that again!"

Everyone burst out laughing. Well, there's one thing for sure. I know how to change a serious moment into a very funny one. Of course, I guess I've always been able to do that. Once, Josh and I were jumping on a trampoline. He jumped down so hard I fell off and broke my arm. My family kept on asking if I was okay, Josh was even in tears. But I just kept laughing and shouting that I wanted to do it again.

"You're something else Faith." Snow said.

"Why do you all keep calling her Faith?"

Just when I was about to answer _again_, Lightning interrupted. "Faith is her actual name, Cross is her surname."

"I really like you real name Faith, it's really pretty." Vanille smiled, grabbing my hands and helping me to my feet.

I blushed. "Thanks, I always thought of it as a name, just any name." I looked at Hope, remembering he had said the same thing. "But apparently, it's a _pretty _name."

Hope stepped forward. "Well, it is. Even Light likes it."

"Whatever you say." The pink haired soldier said.

I elbowed her in the side, making her stagger to the side. "C'mon Light! Let's get to work shall we?!"

She smirked evilly and kneed me in the side, making me stagger to the side in pain. "Yeah Faith, let's get to work shall we?"

I rubbed my side, scowling at Lighting. This woman really knew how to hit someone. 'Cause it hurt like heck! Hope placed a hand on my shoulder. "C'mon Faith, a little pain can't kill ya."

"Whatever." I huffed.

"Besides." He smiled. "You've been shot, been stabbed, thrown into buildings, and crashed through ice."

I shoved him playfully. "Hey, that just shows how unstoppable I am." I grinned.

"Well, the girls here especially you are the most indestructible girls I've really seen. Well, my mother was pretty tough too." He said sadly.

This time, I kissed him, but on the corner of his mouth. He blushed a deep red. And everyone was staring. "Well, c'mon let's get to work!" I cheered, shoving Light down the ramp.

The soldier smacked me upside the head and said, "Don't ever rush me."

I held my head and laughed.


	13. Chapter Eleven

‡‡Chapter Eleven‡‡

* * *

We all burst through the doors into the room where Dysley awaited our arrival. But the thing was when we got there, Jihl Nabaat wasn't protecting the old man, she was laying on the floor dead already. _How?! She isn't supposed to be dead yet! _I shouted in my thoughts. "I see, so you've arrived already L'Cie."

"Monster! Humans are for you to use!"

Dysley floated from his chair and gently landed on the ground. "What other purpose do tools serve?"

Snow charged in anger at the Fal'Cie. The man smirked at Snow. I started forward. "Snow, don't!" But it was too late, he was sent flying back, crashing into me.

Dysley looked at me, as I groaned in pain and rolled out from underneath my companion. "Speaking of tools," He pointed at me. "That's what you all are to her."

I looked at him, dumbfounded. "What nonsense are you spouting?" Lightning came to my defense.

"This one is not from our realm. She is from the Unseen Realm, Valhalla." He smirked and looked at me. "Isn't that right, Daughter Of Chaos?"

That name made my eyes widen. "What're you talking about?" I asked.

"You're far above these L'Cie that you run with. You are the child of Etro herself. A goddess's blood runs through your veins, along with the Chaos. You use others as tools, you aren't used."

I grabbed my hair. "No, you liar!" I screamed. "I'm not like that!"

Dysley laughed at me. "Denial."

I released my pink hair, slid the bag off of my back, and grabbed my sword from my hip. I climbed to my feet, looking at the floor, my bangs falling into my eyes. But quickly, my head snapped up and I charged. "Shut your trap!" I shouted, my blade ricocheting off his shield.

I struck again. "You don't know a thing about me!" I struck again. "So keep your pathetic mouth shut!"

The next time I struck I went back, flying into Hope. We crashed to the ground, groaning. "What a stubborn child. Why do you refuse to remember your true past?"

I didn't answer, I just stared blankly at the floor before me. "Faith?" Hope asked me, placing a hand on my back.

"How about I help you remember?" With a wave of his hand, my head dropped to the ground, my vision went black.

I stared into the darkness. Where am I? What am I doing here? I looked around, spinning in circles trying to figure out what this place was.

"You're back?" A small voice asked.

I looked over my shoulder, seeing the child me from my other dream. She flattened out her small black dress and stood up. "I thought you'd never sleep again and see me again."

"What do you want from me? What is this place?"

"It's your mind. You're inner thoughts." She said. "Don't you remember? You used to always hide in your thoughts to keep away from reality. Even Mommy had a hard time getting you out."

"Mommy? What do you mean? My mom didn't try to do anything but raise me."

The child me blinked at me. "Mommy, you know, Etro."

I started pacing around in a circle. "No, now even my mind is spouting the same nonsense that Dysley is. Lord, have I gone absolutely insane?"

She grabbed my hand. "Don't you remember Faith? You were born in the Chaos. You are Etro's daughter. She just sent you away because she couldn't keep you in the Unseen Realm when the Chaos surrounding you was hurting you and making you cry. Etro didn't want to see that so she sent you to another realm, Earth.

"Don't ask me how this world became a source of entertainment, I don't know myself. But all I'm saying is, you were born here in this world and this world is real."

I shook my head. "I don't get it. How can this world and Earth be separated realms?"

"It happened billions of years ago Faith. No one really knows. But we do know that you're not the first person that's been sent here, before these six L'Cie, many people have been here, without touching that controller." She said. "But Earth, Valhalla, and the world of Cocoon and Pulse are all three different realms. They just can't be seen by one another. It's like one realm has two unseen realms."

"But if I was born here, then does that mean my whole life was nothing but a lie? My sister, my brothers, my mother and father?"

"Their love wasn't a lie, but they aren't your true family."

"And who're you?"

"Me? I'm you Faith. Except, I'm the part of you that reminds you of where you're from, what your true fears are, why you hate the dark." She said. "I'm just the same as you, except only a reminder. But don't worry; after you know the truth, you have no reason to see me anymore."

I looked into her golden eyes. "But why did Dysley send me into my mind? Why does he want me to remember something that I've supposedly wanted to forget?"

"Because Dysley's powerful, yes, but he's not Etro's child. He cannot hear Chaos, he cannot use Chaos, he cannot do things you can. You're supposed to follow in Etro's footsteps as her child and become the ruler of Valhalla, of Chaos. Dysley sees that and knows your true potential, that you could engulf the world in Chaos if you wanted to. And that you weren't meant to befriend humans, but use them to do your bidding.

"Yes, it's very complicated. But what I mean is, Dysley knows that your very powerful and he needs that. He needs you to know who you are to be able to use you." She said, but shook her head. "Not that anyone would allow that to happen."

"Can you at least show me who I am? I'd like to know who I am, where I came from. I want to know the truth." I said.

Mini-Me nodded. "Of course I can. We are the same person after all. And when you get back to your friends, remember who you are and don't forget, because it doesn't only pain you to see, but me as well."

"I won't forget, I'm not _that_ forgetful you know."

Mini-Me giggled. "I should know, I am you." Her expression quickly turned serious. "What you're about to experience will make you feel pain and cry. Are you one hundred percent sure that you're ready to know the truth behind your past?"

I nodded. "I'm ready to learn. I'm ready to learn my past and how I came to be after being born from Chaos.


	14. Chapter Twelve

‡‡Chapter Twelve‡‡

* * *

_It was dark; everything was covered in black and red. It was all hard to look through. But the worst part was that _they_ kept on crying to me, pleading for me to save them. Their pain was hurting me as if it were my own._

_ "Go away, stop it!" I cried, tears streaming down my pale cheeks. "Someone, please take it away."_

_ No one came, nothing changed. I kept crying though, even though my lungs were burning and my chest ached. I wanted someone to save me from this nightmare. It was all horrible. These people, they wouldn't stop giving me their pain._

_ "I don't wanna hear it! Stop it!" I cried out._

_ Suddenly, I heard footsteps echoing through the darkness. The dark was all washed away, I looked up with teary eyes, seeing a beautiful young woman. She had long black hair that flowed just past her knees, she wore a golden headband that wrapped around her head, she wore a long black and golden dress, her feet bare, and her golden eyes looked at me with shock._

_ "A-a child?" She seemed to ask herself._

_ I just stared at her blankly. Who was this woman? And how did she know where to find me throughout all of the darkness? "Who're you?" I sniffled._

_ She walked up to me, not with caution, but normally. The woman extended a hand out to me, I looked at it. What was I supposed to do? Eat it? So I opened my mouth and chomped down on one of the fingers of her small hand. The woman flinched and pulled back. I cocked my head to the side. Her lips tilted up, making a weird formation._

_ I did the same, the woman stopped what she was doing and making a joyful sound. Laughter? Was that what it was called? "Come here young one, let me take you away from this place."_

_ I nodded. I stood up, but my legs wobbled and I almost fell over. The woman steadied me. "Who're you?" I asked once more._

_ "Etro, the Goddess of Chaos and the Unseen Realm." She looked at me and did the weird motion with her mouth again. "What's your name?"_

_ I shrugged. "What's a name?"_

_ She laughed. "I see, so you must've been born from my Unseen Chaos."_

_ "Chaos?" I looked over my shoulder, in the area that I always sat in._

_ "That stuff that was around you. That is Chaos."_

_ I nodded. "Cha-os." I said._

_ She nodded and continued to lead me away from that area. After she pulled a black and gold dress on my small frame, she sat down beside me, in deep thought. "What're you doing?" I asked._

_ "Thinking of a name for you." _

_ "I still don't know what a name is." I said._

_ "Well, a name is a word that someone or something is addressed by or to. Just like I am addressed as Etro."_

_ "Oh." Was all that I said._

_ "Ah-ha!" Etro exclaimed. "I have the perfect name! Faith! Your name will be Faith!"_

_ "Faith?" I pointed at myself. "I'm Faith?"_

_ She nodded. Etro brushed a strand of my black hair from my face. "You're my Faith."_

_ I looked at her, a surge of warmth going through my chest. Why did I feel this way? What was this feeling? "E-Etro? What does it mean when you feel warm here?" I placed a hand over my heart._

_ "That means you're either happy or in love, or both." She said._

_ "And what's this?" I asked, making that motion with my lips._

_ Etro laughed. "Why Faith, that is smiling. It's something you usually do when you're happy or amused, the same with laughing."_

_ "Oh, I see." I said, feeling dumb._

_ Etro played with my hair. "Don't worry Faith." She reassured me. "Just because you've been stuck in Chaos and don't know much doesn't mean anything at all."_

_ I nodded, smiling up at her. "I love you Etro." _

_ Etro's face turned a bright red. "I'm fond of you too Faith."She extended her hand out to me. "Here, let's go have fun."_

_ I nodded and chomped down on her hand again. Etro shook her head, and I released with teary eyes. She grabbed my hand and wrapped my fingers around hers. "That's how you do it. You don't bite unless you don't like or love that person, okay?"_

_ "Okay!"_

I looked at Mini-Me. "Is that how I met Etro?"

She nodded. "She rescued you from the Chaos. But after a few years, you started calling her 'mommy'. But we don't have much time, so let's show you when she sent you away."

I nodded.

_I looked at Etro's tight grip around my wrist. "Mommy, where are we going?" I gasped. "Are we going to play now?!"_

_ "No Faith, you have to leave."_

_ My heart sank. I dug my heels into the ground. "No! I don't wanna leave mommy! I don't wanna!"_

_ Etro looked at me with teary golden eyes. "No Faith! You have to go! You can't handle the Chaos, it hurt you and I don't want you to hurt! Not ever again."_

_ "I won't, it doesn't hurt anymore I'm just fine!" I cried._

_ Etro dropped to her knees and wrapped me in a hug. "Oh Faith don't do this to me."_

_ "Does mommy not love me anymore?" _

_ "No, I love you with all of my heart! I really do! That is why I'm sending you to the another realm. I've already contacted a human through her dreams and told her about your arrival. You will like life there better than here."_

_ Suddenly, I couldn't feel her hug anymore. I felt like my presence was leaving Valhalla. "Mommy!"_

_ "Faith, don't worry. Everything will be alright."_

_ "I won't love anyone else but you mommy."_

_ Etro looked down at the ground, but then looked back at me and landed a kiss on my head. "I can't have that. Goodbye my dear Faith. You won't remember me, but you'll always be in my heart."_

_ I started to cry, I tried to cling onto my memories. "No! Mommy!" And it all disappeared, along with the Unseen Realm._

_ And there I was, standing at a doorstep. I didn't know what to do, so I pressed the glowing button. The door flung open and there stood a young woman with blond hair, three others behind her. "So you must be Faith."_

"That's how you came to be in that realm. Etro didn't want you to leave, and neither did you. And after you said you wouldn't love anyone else, she made you forget so you'd be able to love, be able to enjoy your new life. But when you tried to cling onto your memories, I became implanted to help you remember."

I looked at Mini-Me. "I really loved her. I really missed her, that's why when I saw her when I first came here, I felt warm, happy."

"Yep. And the only reason why you came here was because Etro summoned you here Faith. She brought you here for her own selfish needs."

I swiped at my eyes. "I want to see her again."

"You will. At the end of your journey, you'll see Etro. But until then, you have a mission to complete now don't you?"

I nodded. "Heck yeah, I'm ready to kick some Fal'Cie butt!"

Mini-Me smiled. "Good, you're going back now."

Everything went black again.

"Faith!"

My eyes snapped open and there sat Hope, right next to me, a fight going on in the background. "Light and the others thought that Dysley had killed you when you didn't wake up, so they all started to fight. I thought that we had lost you too." Hope said.

I could tell by the tears in his eyes. I sat up and hugged him tightly. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?"

I nodded. "Promise."


	15. EXTRA - TAKE 2

‡‡EXTRA – FAITH AND HOPE‡‡

* * *

"Welcome back all of you 'Born From Chaos' readers!" Faith shouted, throwing her hands up in the air.

"It's that time again!" Hope shouted, matching Faith's enthusiasm

"It's time for…"

"Extras!" The two shouted in unison.

Faith bounced up and down in her seat. "I'm so happy that we're back! I really was looking forward to this."

Hope laughed. "You just wanted to get out of work, didn't you?"

"…Maybe."

The silver haired teen shook his head. "Any ways, enough about Faith's laziness. We have a really big surprise in store for all of you readers today."

"Since Light didn't like any other discs I picked, Hope decided on the preview for the sequel to my story, 'Daughter Of Chaos'!"

"That's because all you chose were videos that showed you winning at everything!" Light shouted in her defense.

"'Cause I'm the star. MidnitStar even said so." Faith pouted. "Everyone loves me." She hugged Hope. "Even little ol' Hope loves me!"

Hope blushed and waved at Lightning. "Can we just move on with the preview?"

"Yeah, yeah."

_**PREVIEW ~ DAUGHTER OF CHAOS**_

"See you later Faith!" My friend, Jessica shouted.

I waved, throwing my leg over the side of my bike, kicking up the stand. "See ya Jess!"

And off I went, pedaling through the downpour. It's been a while since then, since I made friends that weren't from this world and they didn't care that I wasn't normal. I wonder how they're doing, well, I know how they're doing, Serah's heartbroken over Snow and Light, but it's not like I can help.

_Faith!_

Suddenly, the bike is unstable and I try to pull it to a stop, but it slides across the wet cement and I'm sent rolling into the grass beside the road. "Shoot." I bang my fist against the cement.

It keeps coming back to haunt me, the look on his face as I disappear from their world and back into this one, crying that I promised not to leave him. I tilted my face up to look at the dark storm clouds.

"Why the heck did you send me back to this place? I don't even belong here. I'm not even a freaking human."

My phone buzzed to life, I looked at it. _ ANNA_. I tossed my phone down the walk, it slammed hard into the ground, slipping into a puddle. That was my last phone that my 'mom' said she'd buy me. I grabbed my bike and walked over to the puddle.

I crouched down and picked up the phone, examining the cracked screen. I tilted it to the side, water pouring out of it. "Jeez, I'm just screwed now."

I sighed, standing up and grabbing my bike. And then something happened. The scream shimmered. "Holy cinnamon swirls!" I shouted, dropping it to the ground.

I looked at it, and right there, was a faint image of Valhalla. I looked around, what was I supposed to do. Step into my phone? I laughed, but then stopped and looked at it. "Hoped ya missed me." I said, and I entered the other realm, my real home.

_**THE END**_

"That's all we have time for!" Hope shouted, still blushing at the fact Faith is clinging to him.

"We hope you enjoyed!"

"I bet you guys can't wait for the sequel where Faith joins Noel, Serah, and Mog in an epic battle to save the future and the dying goddess, Etro." Hope said.

"And it'll be twice as funny! Especially since I can annoy Noel and get away with it!"

"Anyways, that's all."

"And remember to continue supporting me and my story."

Hope and Faith smiled at one another, before looking at the camera. "Please remember to review!" They shouted in unison.

"Fang, Vanille, take it away!" Faith shouted.

The two appear from behind Hope and Faith. They waved. "Ciao!"


	16. Chapter Thirteen

‡‡Chapter Thirteen‡‡

* * *

Hope and I didn't delay for very long, it was only thirty seconds before we both grabbed our weapons and engaged ourselves into battle. "Glad to see you're alive!" Snow called, and I thought I saw a small smile on his lips.

I gave him a thumbs up, before shielding an attack from Barthandelus. "You too Mr. Optimistic!" I grinned.

A hand grabbed my upper arm and yanked me aside, the spot I was just standing in was singed, almost pitch black. I looked up to my savior and saw the former pink haired soldier, Lighting. "Thanks Light." I said. "Seriously."

Suddenly, Light did the thing that I least expected. She smiled at me, but it was gone so quick that I could hardly tell if it were real or not. "Watch out!" She shouted.

The two of us jumped in opposite directions, dodging an attack. I wound up beside Fang and Vanille. "Nice to see you awake again kid." Fang said.

I grinned. "It better be!" I laughed.

"We were worried about you Faith." Vanille said, casting magic.

"I surely hope so, I'd feel the same if it happened to you guys." I said, grinning.

I cast fire at one of the heads; apparently it didn't like that because it decided to cast water right at me. I ducked and rolled, right next to Sazh and Hope. "Well, I think that I totally ticked him off."

"Think? Are you kidding me, there's no 'think', you did." Sazh said and I laughed.

"Yeah, you're right about that."

Hope glanced at me, and when I looked his head snapped back to the enemy. And every time I looked away, he looked back at me. "What kind of game is that you two?" Sazh asked, laughing.

I blushed, but then snapped back to the fight. "Move it!" I shouted, using my shoulder to knock Hope into Sazh, getting them both out of the way.

I pulled my sword in front of me, blocking the attack, but they kept coming rapidly. And then Barthandelus did a technique I almost completely forgot about. "Holy cinnamon swirls! Every move away from the center of the room, or else he'll-"

It was too late, his face cracked open, pistol like holes beneath that hideous face. They shot out beams the pierced through us and even grazed our skin. I dropped to my knee and glared up at Barthandelus. "You L'Cie are too weak. Even the daughter of chaos knows."

"You know what? You're really ticking me off!" I shouted, casting magic, each of the head's weaknesses until they all disappeared. "And you don't tick Faith Cross off. Otherwise, she goes insane and no one wants an insane Faith!"

I looked down at my injured companions, all of them grunting and groaning in pain, trying hard to get up. Then it popped into my head, I'd just do what I did to defeat Anima. I tightened my grip on my sword's hilt, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. "What're you doing?"

"Faith!"

I pulled my sword back, the hilt right by my hip. I could feel it, the power of the Unseen Chaos building up within me, and this time, I accepted more into me. My eyes shot open and I dug the tip of my foot into the floor, pushing off at full speed at Barthandelus.

I grazed him, but came back once more, getting him again and again and again and again. And then, I couldn't take it anymore, I fell to one knee, gasping for air. The Chaos was going suffocate me if I kept on going like this.

"You're too weak." He laughed.

"You talk too much Barthandelus." Light said coolly and cast magic, before the others went in for the attack.

She stood right beside me, looking down at me. "Thanks Light." I gasped.

"Just because you're some daughter of chaos or Etro, doesn't mean you can do it all." She said, helping me to my feet. "Now, let's finish him, just like from the beginning."

Beginning? And then I remembered, Light and had finished off Anima together, we delivered the final blow to the Fal'Cie and now we were going to do it all over again."

I grinned. "Alright, let's kick his butt together." I put my fist out to her.

She nodded, knocking her fist against mine. "Alright, now let's do this."

"Gotcha!" I shouted, giving her a firm nod.

And we were off, running at full speed, ready to bring down the last bit of Barthandelus's life. And then the guy tried thanatosian smile again. "Out of the way!" I shouted, and we all moved.

Light and I kept moving though, running alongside those deadly beams of light. And when they disappeared, I saw Light give me a small, but firm nod. And we moved to one another's side, we grabbed each others free hand and leapt into the air.

Extending our blades out, we started to spin in a deadly spiral, like twin blades. That hit finished him off, we jumped back, landing beside our comrades. "Alright!" I shouted, and Hope jumped on me from my blindside, giving me a hug.

But the party was ruined once Barthandelus returned back to his human form and started to applaud. "Well done you L'Cie. You've proven me wrong, you may be of worth after all."

He stared right at me, and I glared back at the Fal'Cie. "I guess you don't know when to die." I snapped.

"Apparently, Fal'Cie don't go down easy like the rest of us!"

"Ease is not an issue. You've not to in. You should all know the sure way of dispatching our kind." _Don't you say it!_ I thought. "Become Ragnarok."

Well, I say not to say and there you go ahead and say it anyways. Does my opinion not matter anymore?! "What's Raganarok?" Fang asked, and almost automatically, she falls to one knee and clutched her brand.

"Pitiful L'Cie, you've already forgotten your focus. Ragnarok is the beast that one of you shall become in order to lay waste to Cocoon. You've had the dream. One of you must become that monstrosity, defeat Orphan, and destroy Cocoon."

"Orphan?"

"The font of Eden's power. Orphan fuels Eden with strength and sustains your kind. Destroy Orphan and you will unleash a force no one has ever seen, not even the daughter of chaos. Cocoon will be torn asunder!"

Fang finally stood, her eyes dark. "So if I did that…Destroyed Orphan."

"You're focus will be complete."

Lightning slashed at Dysley, but misses. "So what?! Who says it has to be that way?!" She cried out, anger and hatred in her tone.

"Serah asked us to _save_ Cocoon before she turned to crystal. Save it! And that's what we're all going to do!" Snow shouted as he squeezes the crystal tear in his palm.

"She was trying to tell us how to complete our focus and we've-"

"How can you do that when you can be easily be manipulated by the daughter of chaos? The girl controls people with the Chaos in their hearts? She can have her way with you."

They looked at me. "So, what will you do, daughter of chaos. Help me rule or stay with these _L'Cie_?"

I smirked. "Take your ruling the world offer and cram up your butt. I don't want to stand by your side! I don't enslave people, I'm just a freaking human!" I shouted, ripping free from Hope and slashing at him.

He started to disappear. "Go ahead then, run! See how well that'll work, when you do death shall be upon you." And he was gone.

"Creep dirt bag." I muttered, before the ship jolted and we were falling out of the sky. "Shoot, let's go!"

And we all raced for the airship deck, climbing into one of the ships. And we took to the sky, escaping the destruction of the Palamecia. Then as if lady luck didn't hate us already, we were attacked. "It's Rosch!" Snow shouted, and I had an urge to smack him and say, "No duh!"

"Hold on!" Sazh shouted to us.

Everything went crazy as we tried dodging the missiles, and we swerved around obstacles. I was shouting like it was fun. Hey, I've never been on a roller-coaster before. Well, that was until we almost hit a wall. They all screamed except me, we went right through it, into the Fifth Ark.

* * *

** I'm sorry if this chapter seems sketchy and just flat out terrible. I've tired out different ways in rewriting it and it came out even worse. So please, I hope this chapter will be fine the way it is.  
**


	17. Chapter Fourteen

‡‡Chapter Fourteen‡‡

When the airship had parked in the ark, we filed out one by one. "Alright! That was so much fun! We should totally do that again!" I shouted, throwing my hands in the air.

Everyone looked at me as if I had some sort of death wish. "Just without all of the missiles and all that mumbo jumbo." I said, and that seemed to calm them down.

I looked around the ark. It looked so real compared to the game. "Where are we?" Light finally asked.

"Looks like a piece of Pulse." Vanille said, looking around.

"Pulse? You mean like the Bodhum Vestige?" Sazh asked. "Something like that, this close to Eden…"

"Yeah, well, what I don't understand is, after the Purge, and all that L'Cie paranoia." Fang said, placing her hands on her hips. "Why keep a chunk of Pulse under the floorboards?"

Hope stepped forward. "Is this what the Primarch wanted us to see?"

"A place for L'Cie to accept their fate." Light said, walking around.

"Do you really think our Focus is what Dysley said it is?" Hope asked.

Vanille crossed her arms. "You mean, become Ragnarok?"

"Yeah, that's our focus." I said, sounding glum about it.

"Destroy the Fal'Cie and shatter Coccon." Sazh sighed. "That's what the vision's telling us, more or less." He groaned. "So we're back to square one. Out of luck."

"Mr. Hero! Cocoon calling Snow!" Vanille smiled and when he didn't answer she huffed and walked away.

"It's practically like Dysley wants it to come true." Hope said.

"Seems that way."

_It _is_ that way._ I thought. "He sure didn't mind explaining it. 'Here's you Focus on a silver platter'."

I had to try hard no to smile at Sazh's words. Vanille moved towards him. "But that doesn't make sense. I don't get it. Why would a Cocoon Fal'Cie want to destroy Cocoon?"

"Maybe it's a Fal'Coe thing. You know what I mean?" Hope glanced at us all. "Some grand design we just don't understand."

"Hey Snow, nothing from you?!" Fang called out to the hero.

I looked at him, watching the emotion play on his face. "Mr. Optimistic?" I asked, walking up to him.

"So this way?" Sazh asked, leading the others off.

Eventually, I sighed, giving him a pat on the shoulder before following the others, moving into the ruins. Light and Snow stopped, but we moved a bit further, not trying to eaves drop. But I wanted to, and I dragged Hope with me.

Hey, I can't spy alone! "Well, even heroes make mistakes." Snow said, leaning against the wall.

"What about your plan to protect Cocoon?" Light asked, walking around. "Either way, your faith in Serah was strong. That strength got you this far."

"It was all wrong."

"Yeah. You tried so hard convincing us, you even fooled yourself. You've been a total idiot. But still…It saved me." Light said, finally facing Snow. "You trusted Serah. Let that faith drive you. It even made me want to believe."

And with that Light started walking away, passing by us. I held my breath, hoping that she wouldn't turn around. "What're you two doing?"

"Eek!" Hope and I shrieked, holding one another in each other's arms.

"N-nothing. What're you talking about Light?" I asked, trying to play it off.

The soldier wasn't fooled; she grabbed my ear and started to drag me away. I grasped Hope's ear and dragged him along with me, the two of us screaming, "OW!"

After we had been dragged far enough, Light released us. "Next time, don't eavesdrop." She said, walking up to the others.

I looked at Hope, who had tears in his eyes and I was still holding his ear. I laughed nervously and released. But I couldn't just leave him that way, I leaned in and kissed his ear. His whole face was beat red. "There ya go, I kissed it better." And with that I started after Light and the gang, trying to hide my own blush.

Hope jogged up from behind, following me up the steps. He fell into step beside me, slowly he looked around. "I really can't believe we're still in Cocoon."

"It's kind of creepy."

"Seriously." I muttered. It was true, I wasn't as surprised back in the other realm, but here, I actually was.

Suddenly, the floor started to glow a soft red. We all looked down, and it flashed a bright gold. We all moved to hold our L'Cie marks, groaning in pain. I grabbed a my collarbone, looking over at Hope who was bent over, holding his mark.

I wanted to go and help him out, but I was in too much pain to move. As quick as it had appeared, the light disappeared. "What the?" Sazh asked.

Some of the pillars started to move, hissing as the machines moved out to attack. "Alright! Some action!" I said, rubbing my collarbone and grabbing my sword from my hip.

I slid into an offensive position and smirked at the Pulsework Knights in front of us. Everyone pulled out their weapons as well. Before any of us moved, one of them stalked over to Hope, about to strike.

What was I going to do; I wasn't close enough to push him out-of-the-way. Then, I remembered what Dysley had said, I can control someone thanks to the Chaos within their hearts. I closed my eyes and forced Hope to move. Hope ducked down, dodging the machine's attack.

Hope looked shocked, as if he didn't even know how it had happened. I moved in for the kill, puncturing his head with my blade. It collapsed to the ground, I spun my sword around, having the air whip around it. "Heads up."

"How did I..." He trailed off and looked up at me.

"Sorry, I had to. But don't worry, I won't do that ever again." I said, reaching down to help up the younger teen.

When we looked over, it appeared that Light and Fang had already finished off the other Pulsework Knight. I looked at Hope and ruffled his silver hair. "Come on before we get left."

He nodded, and I could tell that he wasn't too happy about me controlling him, but he seemed thankful that I moved him out-of-the-way before that thing took his head off. Believe me when I say, I didn't want to control him.

I didn't want to, but hey, I guess it was better than my previous ideas of shoving his out-of-the-way and getting the stuffing knocked out of me. When we all reached the top of the next flight of stairs, we all seemed like we were in awe.

We all looked around. I walked up to a pillar and pressed my hand against it. "This place―it must be an Ark." Vanille said, and I looked up.

Sometimes I just wanted to pull at my hair and scream for them not to state the obvious. Of course, this is all new to them and I've played this before and so I know what happens. Well, I could be wrong; after these things that happened, it wouldn't surprise me if something random popped up.

I pushed away from the pillar. "An Ark?" Light asked, stepping towards Vanille.

Fang looked at Light, her hands on her hips. "That's what they called'em."

"Long ago, the Fal'Cie who made their home on Gran Pulse were afraid of invasion from the outside." Vanille said. "As oart of their battle preparations, they created an army of living weapons." She turned to face us all. "And they stored those weapons in Arks, and they hid the Arks all over the world."

Fang started to walk around now. "Everyone on Gran Pulse knew the legend."

"So, his is basically a Pulse armory." Lightning stated.

Fang nodded. "Most of us never believed in 'em. A few people tried searching, but they never found a thing." She walked forward, ahead of Vanille. "Who'd have thought to look on Cocoon?"

Sazh gestured to the area. "Right under our noses. That's some secret they kept" He said. "Those Sanctum guys what are they up to?"

"The story's not over." I said, and everyone looked at me questioningly, so quickly I added, "Is it?"

"No, there's more." Vanille said, looking at me.

"They used to say the Arks had a more practical purpose." Fang said.

"Huh. Really." Light said, sounding more like a statement than a question.

"Yeah, to force L'Cie to master their shiny new powers." Fang said, stepping towards the soldier.

"Okay, so, I get it. Dysleys goal is to forge us into stronger weapons. Right."

Sazh put his palms facing up. "Not Cie'th, but monsters all the same."

Hope walked towards the group. "Think of it as training for the road ahead."

"I agree." I said, Vanille adding, "Hope's right!"

Suddenly, there was a weird noise, the ground moving. "Wait. What was that?" Sazh asked.

The tops of the pillars opened, hissing out clear air. More Pulsework Knights appeared. "Great, these guys again." Sazh groaned.

"Speak for yourself, I enjoy whipping these guys butts." I said, grinning.

"Fun times." Light said, and I looked at her and I could tell her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Hope pointed in another direction. "Over there! We've got to keep moving!"

"Huh! But, what about-" Light grabbed the back of my shirt, yanking me behind her.

"Forget it."

I puffed up my cheeks in an attempt to pout, but huffed and nodded, following after the others as Sazh, Light, and Snow watched our backs. Man, I was so looking forward to fighting those things, but with Light right behind me I knew it wouldn't happen. Oh well, I'll get more opponents soon enough.


End file.
